These Popular Foods Were Actually Invented By Accident

Have you ever taken a bite into your favorite food and pondered the origin story behind it? We take so much for granted, especially our food. We just sit down at the dinner table and gobble up that meatloaf or chicken piccata without ever thinking about the very first human being to assemble all those ingredients together through trial and error to make a dish that would appear on restaurants menus for many years to come. The origin story behind so many of our favorite dishes is fascinating and you can (and should) go down a long rabbit hole of exploration to learn more about the food you love and the people at the helm of its creation.

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However, there are many dishes today that almost never saw the light of day, but thanks to a complete accident, they emerged, and the world was tastier because of it. Get your surprised face ready, because this list highlights some of the most delicious foods and ingredients around, and their origin stories all boil down to a single mistake.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you just read those three words and gasped, you’d be correct in doing so. Chocolate chip cookies may be the sweetest mistake on this list―it’s safe to say the world is a cozier place because it happened. During the 1930s, a woman named Ruth Graves Wakefield was working at the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts when she made a simple chocolate swap while baking cookies. Realizing she was missing baker’s chocolate, she broke apart a Nestle chocolate bar and stirred the pieces into the batter, assuming they’d melt completely like the baker’s chocolate would. But, the chocolate didn’t melt, and Ruth found herself with cookies packed with tony pockets of gooey chocolate. Thus, the chocolate chip cookie was born.

Nashville Hot Chicken

Nashville hot chicken is what happens when regular fried chicken decides to dress up for the evening and wear something extra classy. But the origin story is anything but elegant. According to legend, a Nashville man named Thornton Prince had a girlfriend who wanted revenge for his lewd behavior with other women. Upon arriving home one night, Thornton’s girlfriend cooked him fried chicken with hot peppers, hoping he’d scorch his tongue while eating. Her plan completely backfired, as Thornton loved the meal and he ended up using the recipe to open up his own fried chicken joint in town.

Popsicles

No summer is truly complete without popsicles. Those sweet sticks of colored ice are the perfect cool-down treat after a long day under the sun, and we have a forgetful young boy to thank for the hot weather dessert. In 1905, an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson stirred up a glass of water mixed with a sugary powder (similar to Kool Aid), and accidentally left it outside on a cold winter night. The next morning he woke up to a sweet, frozen stick complete with a wooden spoon for a handle. 

Potato Chips

You probably have a bag or two of potato chips in your pantry right now, and if not for this next mistake, they wouldn’t be there. In 1853, a New York chef named George Crum had a plate of french fries sent back by an unsatisfied customer during a shift. In an attempt to give the customer something that wasn’t as thick and soggy as the fries were, the chef sliced potatoes super thin and tossed them into the frying oil. He hit them with a touch of salt and potato chips were born. 

Worcestershire Sauce

Anytime you need to ramp up a dish with a kick of umami, there’s no better way to do that than a dash of Worcestershire sauce. It’s hard to pronounce, and even harder to spell, but thanks to a forgetful blunder by two English chemists, it’s now a staple in kitchens everywhere. The two chemists, John Lea and William Perrins, were attempting to recreate an Indian sauce for a nobleman from Worcester, Lord Sandys. They made a huge batch, stashed it, and totally forgot about it for two years. When they eventually discovered it, the strong fishy smell it originally had mellowed out considerably and quickly became a hugely popular item with locals. Ever since then, it’s been a staple on supermarket shelves.